DESCRIPTION :

Dr. Rakesh Saini received a B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi in the year 2009, where he worked toward a bachelor’s thesis project concerned with the thermocatalytic decomposition of methane in hydrogen and carbon nanotubes under the guidance of Prof K. K. Pant. Thereafter, he joined the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) - Bokaro steel plant as a Management Trainee and worked there for more than 2 years in the gas utilities department as a Junior Manager (Technical). Subsequently, he obtained his Master of Applied Science (M. A. Sc.) degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University, ON, Canada, as a graduate and teaching scholar. The Master’s thesis was based on investigating different Electrokinetic Phenomena in planar and porous substrates, sponsored by DuPont (Canada) and The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada. Then, he worked as a guest faculty member at NIT-Jaipur, Rajasthan, for a semester and joined the Refining R&D division of Reliance Industries Limited in 2015. In RIL, His major assignments involved evaluating different in-house and commercial catalysts for Hydroprocessing, Hydroisomerization, FCC, and other refining and petrochemical process-related projects. He was also primarily engaged in Petcoke Gasification-related projects covering kinetic data generation, evaluation, model development, plant data analysis, and recommendations. He worked in different managerial roles as a Scientist and Sr. Scientist in Reliance Ind. Ltd. for over 5 years. Then, moving to UOP India Private Ltd., HITC, Gurgaon, his significant contribution was to Refining and Petrochemical-related projects as a Kinetic Modeling Specialist for over a year. In 2024, he also completed his Doctoral Thesis work related to the Thermochemical Conversion processes at IIT Bombay under the guidance of Prof Sanjay M Mahajani in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Currently, he works as a Principal Scientist in CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, in the Mineral Processing Department (MPD). He is involved in diversified project activities related to thermochemical conversion processes of pyrolysis, gasification, waste management and utilization techniques, novel materials development, and circular economy. 

• Principal Scientist (Feb 2025 to Current) – Mineral Processing Technology Dept., CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, OD, India.
• Sr. Scientist (Feb 2021 to Jan 2025) – Mineral Processing Technology Dept., CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, OD, India.
• Adv. R&D Engineer/Scientist (Jan 2020 to Jan 2021) – Modeling and Simulation Group, UOP, Honeywell India Technology Centre (HITC), Gurgaon, HR, India.
• Sr. Manager (Oct 2018 to Jan 2020) – Refining R&D Dept., Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Jamnagar, GJ, India.
• Manager (Jan 2015 to Sept 2018) – Refining R&D Dept., Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Navi Mumbai, MH, India.
• Guest Faculty (July 2014 to Dec 2014) – Dept. of Chemical Engineering, NIT Jaipur (MNIT), Jaipur, RJ, India.
• Graduate and Teaching Assistant (Jan 2012 to June 2014) – Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
• Jr. Manager (Aug 2009 to Aug 2011) – Technical, BSP, Gas Utilities Dept., SAIL, Bokaro, JH, India.

• Sustainable energy generation methods -  Gasification, Pyrolysis
• Chemical process optimization
• Waste management and circular economy
• Novel materials development
• Catalysis and reactor analysis
• Microfluidics and nanofluidics
• Refining and petrochemical processes

• In the gracious presence of Dr. V. K. Saraswat, member Niti Aayog, during the VIII International Conference of "Sustainable Energy and Environmental Challenges (VIII SEEC) 2023”, received the Best Paper Presentation Award, organized by MNIT Jaipur and ISEES.
• Received full-term Graduate Research Award from DuPont (Canada) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for the Master's thesis work at Queen's University from 2012 to 2014.
• IIT-JEE mains qualified with All India Rank 1169 in the year 2005.
• Received The Certificate of Merit  Award under the National Scholarships Scheme by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) of Govt. of India.
• For securing 100% marks in Mathematics in the Sr Secondary Board Exam, RJ received a nomination for the Gold Medal from the University of Rajasthan.
• Received The Certificate of Appreciation in the State Science Talent Search Examination (STSE).
• Awarded by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan for securing 14th rank all over Rajasthan State and 3rd rank in Jaipur District in Senior Sec. Board Exam.
• Awarded for securing 19th rank all over Rajasthan in Secondary Board Exam. 

• Saini, R., Rao, D. S., Narayan, R., Behera, S., & Mahajani, S. M. (2025). Industrial coal gasification ash as a support substrate for the thermocatalytic decomposition of methane into hydrogen and carbon nanotubes. Fuel, 388, 134432. (I.F. 6.7)
• Saini, R., Rao, D. S., & Barma, S. D. (2025). Co-gasification of blast furnace dust with petcoke for sustainable waste management. Waste Management, 193, 506-516. (I.F. 7.1)
• Saini, R., Barma, S. D., Rao, D. S., Basu, S., & Mahajani, S. M. (2023). Applied mineralogical investigation on coal gasification ash. Waste Management, 167, 1-12. (I.F. 7.1)
• Saini, R., Mahajani, S. M., Barma, S. D., & Rao, D. S. (2024). Valorization of coconut and banana wastes with petcoke and coal via steam gasification in a fluidized bed reactor. Journal of Cleaner Production, 434, 139955. (I.F. 9.7)
• Saini, R., Mahajani, S. M., Rao, D. S., & Narayan, R. (2024). Co-gasification of lignite and spent tea waste for the generation of hydrogen-rich syngas in a fluidized bed gasifier. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 68, 823-833. (I.F. 8.1)
• Saini, R., Barma, S. D., Rao, D. S., Basu, S., & Mahajani, S. M. (2023). Thermo-kinetic Study of Genetically Different Carbon-Source Materials. ACS Omega, 8(41), 38704-38714. (I.F. 4.0)
• R. Saini, A. Garg, and D.P.J. Barz* “Streaming potential revisited: The influence of convection on the surface conductivity”, Langmuir 30 (2014), p. 10950–10961. IF: 4.4.
• R. Saini, M. Kenny, and D.P.J. Barz*: “Electroosmotic flow through packed beds of granular materials”, Microfluid Nanofluid (2015) 19: 693. IF: 2.8.
• Deb Barma, S., Saini, R., Rao, D. S., Nagarajan, R., & Eswaraiah, C. (2024). An insight into the characteristics of some oxidized low-grade coals of Indian origin. International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, 1–21. (I.F. 2.0)
• R. Saini, “Gasification fundamentals and its role towards the sustainable steel industry”, Sustainability in Metal Industries, February 02 – 03, 2024, IIM, Rourkela Chapter, in association with SAIL-RSP and NIT Rourkela
• R. Saini, D. S. Rao, D. P. Das, S. D. Barma, S. P. Sethi, S. Basu, “Mineral-material development from commercial coal gasification plant ash”, National Conference on Advanced Functional Materials AFM-2023, CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar.
• R. Saini, S. Maurya, M. Kumar, “Investigation of synergetic effect during co-pyrolysis of different carbonaceous feedstocks", CHEMCON-2021, CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar.
• R. Saini, S. Basu, S. M. Mahajani, “Gasification of high-ash Indian coal: challenges and opportunities”, 5th National Symposium on Shaping the Energy Future: Challenges & Opportunities (SEFCO), CSIR – IIP, Dehradun.
• R. Saini, A. Garg, D.P.J. Barz*: “Application of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy to the electrokinetic characterization of planar substances.” 97th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, held in Vancouver, Canada from June 1-5, 2014.
• R. Saini, M. Kenny, and D.P.J. Barz*: “Electroosmotic flow through porous materials”, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels ICNMM2014 August 3-7, 2014, Chicago, Illinois, USA, Proc. on CD-ROM Paper No. FEDSM2014-21173 New York, N.Y.: ASME, 2014.
• R. Saini, and D.P.J. Barz*: “Electroosmotic flow measurements based on capillary interface tracking”, Extended Abstract: 1000 Islands Fluid Dynamics Meeting, 30 May – 1 June, 2014, Gananoque, ON, Canada.
• Technical paper - 97th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition held in Vancouver, Canada from June 1-5, 2014 on “Application of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy to the electrokinetic characterization of planar substances.”
• Technical paper presentation - 11th ASME International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels (ICNMM) held in Sapporo, Japan in August 2013 on “Streaming Potential Revisited: Why it is Important to Measure In-Situ Liquid Conductivities.”
• Conference proceeding - AIChE Journal on “Thermo-catalytic Decomposition of Methane over co-precipitated Ni Catalysts for Production of Hydrogen and Carbon Tubes” in 2009 based on the B. Tech. project in IIT Delhi under Dr. K. K. Pant.
• Paper presentation in in World Hydrogen Technology Conference (WHTC) 2009 held in New Delhi on “Catalytic Decomposition of Methane in Hydrogen and Carbon Nanotubes”.
• Received best poster award for the research work on "Methane Decomposition by Nickel-Alumina catalyst" during PETROTECH-2008. 

Projects completed as a Principal Investigator (PI)

• Feasibility studies on recovering valuable and rare earth elements from coal gasification ash, CGP. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSPL), Angul, OD.
• Studies on the utilization of Rock Phosphate flotation tailings originated from the Jhamarkotra mines of Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited (RSMML). 3S Minerals Processors Private Limited, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
• Development of a novel coal-gasification technology specific to high ash Indian coal with integrated CO2 capture. CSIR-IMMT
• Training Program on Mineral Characterization, Beneficiation, and Analysis. Directorate of Mines and Geology, OD
• Training (HR) Program to the technical officers of Directorate of Mines, Govt. of Odisha. Directorate of Mines and Geology, OD

Contributed to projects as a Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)

• Beneficiation Study of Iron Ore from Hahaladdi Mine, North Bastar Kanker (C.G.). JSW Ispat Special Products Limited, Raipur
• Chemical Compositional Study of Graphite Bearing Samples. Directorate of Mines & Geology, Govt. of Odisha